After 15 years, two trials, and as many convictions by Suffolk County juries, James “Jimmy” Murphy’s killer finally admitted his guilt in court today, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

JOSEPH DOWNEY (D.O.B. 4/18/65), most recently of Quincy, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for stabbing Murphy to death in a South Boston tavern in 1997. He was sentenced to a term of 17 to 20 years in state prison.

Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Downey has served less than 10 years since his arrest, due in part to two decisions by the Massachusetts Appeals Court vacating his convictions on different technicalities, and today was ordered to serve out the remainder of his sentence at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction.

“This guilty plea accomplishes three goals,” Conley said. “First, it includes an unconditional admission of guilt by the defendant for Mr. Murphy’s death. Second, it puts an end to any further appeals on his part and ensures a lengthy prison term. And finally, it provides Mr. Murphy’s family the closure and certainty that they’ve deserved for so long. They are men and women of tremendous faith, grace, and kindness, and they’ve made a huge impression on all of us.”

Had the case proceeded to trial a third time, Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that Downey and his brother, DANIEL DOWNEY (D.O.B. 8/16/68), both South Boston residents at the time, were familiar with Murphy. Evidence would also have shown that Murphy had fought with Joseph Downey the prior weekend, with Murphy getting the better of the defendant.

Knight would have sought to prove that Murphy entered Kelly’s Cork and Bull at about 1:30 a.m. on March 24, 1997, to use a pay phone. The Downey brothers were present and followed him into a small passageway near the back of the establishment. In the course of a physical altercation, prosecutors allege, Daniel Downey grabbed Murphy from behind and Joseph Downey stabbed him in the chest, killing him.

Both brothers were found guilty of second-degree murder at their 1999 trial. The Massachusetts Appeals Court vacated those convictions in 2006, however, after finding that their attorneys compromised the effectiveness of their counsel by wearing concealed microphones for a British television documentary.

Daniel Downey later pleaded guilty. Joseph Downey went to trial and was convicted a second time, but that conviction was vacated in 2010 after the Appeals Court found that the trial judge had impermissibly closed the courtroom for a brief period during jury selection.

“It seems the sentencing structure here, given the history of the proceedings and the verdicts at trial, is appropriate to the circumstances,” Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke said, noting that Downey would have been eligible for parole after 15 years on a second-degree murder conviction. “The defendant will pay his debt to society.”

Kara Hayes was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Downey was represented in these proceedings by attorney Robert Sinsheimer.